Civic Awards to celebrate Peterborough's community heroes

Thirty-one members of Peterborough's community will be celebrated at a prestigious awards event at the Town Hall.

Launched in 2014, the Civic Awards recognises residents, groups, organisations and businesses that have made a real difference to their local community.

The event, starting at 6pm on Wednesday 24 February, will see each person formally recognised and presented with a commemorative certificate.

Announced at the full council meeting on December 17 2015, the list of winners spans seven categories: community involvement; sports, art & culture, environment, business, young person and lifetime achievement.

Civic Award winners include Mr Abdul-Muquaddas Choudhuri for his voluntary community services over a period of 43 years; Mr Jay Gearing for services to The Green Backyard and Mrs Sue Bigham for her impact over 40 years as a teacher at Longthorpe Primary School.

Winners in the Sports category include Mr Gordon Pearson for his phenomenal passion and support for sporting events including the Perkins Great Eastern Run and Park Run Peterborough.

Mrs Janet Cox is one of the Environment Civic Award winners. Aged 80, she goes out daily in all weathers to clear litter.

The Young Person Civic Award goes to Miss Michaela Anthony for her commitment to volunteering with the Peterborough Environment City Trust charity.

The Lifetime Achievement Civic Award will be presented to Mr Peter Moyse for founding and developing the John Clare society, which he has served since 1981.

Councillor Peter Hiller, chairman of the city council's Honours Panel, said: "The Civic Awards are about recognising the unsung heroes in our city – the people who are making a difference all year round.

"The winners were chosen out of scores of nominations that came in from residents across Peterborough and its villages. It's remarkable and heart-warming to see what people are achieving every day in the support of others.

"These are Peterborough's true heroes and we're looking forward to meeting and thanking them next month."